For many years, the southwest corner of Avenue Road and Pears, just north of Davenport, was home to a luxury auto dealership. In early 2010, work began on converting the former Downtown Fine Cars location into a presentation centre for Menkes Developments' Pears on the Avenue, a 20-storey, Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects-designed condominium development. The view below, captured in April 2010, shows the site as it appeared during the presentation centre's Grand Opening celebration.

Pears on the Avenue presentation centre's Grand Opening, April 2010, image by Edward Skira

Just over 7 years later, the current view from the same vantage point reveals the completed development. Construction work on the project wrapped up in 2014, when residents began to occupy the tower's 175 residential units. The partial Avenue Road frontage of the previous car dealership has been replaced by a full 100-foot frontage of commercial space now occupied by Blyth Academy, with a podium massing that helps the tower to integrate with the low-rise buildings to the south. Another change visible in the background is the recent re-painting of a 1968-built 25-storey apartment tower with 449 affordable rental units at 250 Davenport Road. This Tower-in-the-Park style site will be intensified with a new TACT Architecture-designed condominium development by developers Diamond Corp and Metropia, to be known as AYC Condos.

Pears on the Avenue, July 2017, image by Stefan Novakovic

A view upwards shows the full height of the completed condominium tower.

Pears on the Avenue, July 2017, image by Stefan Novakovic

We will return next week with another look at the changing face of Toronto!